When I found a little display in the Valentine’s aisle though with some edible body paints and these Decorated Chocolate Shoes I thought that they were actually a good score. The packaging is a little plain, but part of me suspected that these were part of a larger gift package (maybe a basket or box) that were broken up into separate items that could be sold off for a dollar ... and most likely they were from Christmas and still fresh. The expiry date on the shoe was April 2010.

The package is two components: an outer clear plastic box with the label affixed to it with the stretchy silver bow and an inner two part clear plastic “mold” for the shoe. This did a great job of both displaying the candy and protecting it. It was fully taped all around the seam between the two parts, so very well sealed.

There were two things that gave me pause about the purchase. First, it’s made in China. The company that distributes them is called Galerie and is based in Hebron, Kentucky. (They also make gourmet candy corn.) My confidence level in products containing milk from China is admittedly low since the melamine scandal. Second, the ingredients don’t look good. Technically this should not be labeled chocolate, as the milk chocolate contains whey as an ingredient, considered a “filler” by US FDA standards. But I was attracted by the price and size and figured some readers might be as well.

The shoe itself is about four inches long with a 1.75” heel. At 2.7 ounces it’s pretty hefty, so besides that well in the shoe for a foot, it’s solid chocolate. The molding is nice, the chocolate has a good sheen to it and the decorations, though modest at just four pink colored “white chocolate” hearts on each side are precisely painted. (I looked around and didn’t see any other varieties in the store, though I suspect that other versions exist.)

The chocolate smells a bit woodsy, sweet and milky. It’s pretty tough to bite, kind of like eating an Easter rabbit. The texture though is rather smooth. I was pleased with the fact that it wasn’t overly sweet (adding whey actually makes this possible - it helps maintain the texture without adding expensive cocoa butter or cocoa but not sweetness of sugar - in very small amounts it doesn’t influence the flavor).

As a molded novelty item for this price, I’d say it’s excellent. My interest in milk chocolate in the shape of a high-heeled shoe with hearts on it is extremely low, so I can’t say that this is a great gift for me. If you’re looking for a party favor or a little gift where the visual impact is more important than the actual chocolate, this is perfect. Out of the package it can be used for decoration, and as I showed above for scale, filled with M&Ms or Hershey’s Kisses or even a few small chocolate covered strawberries it’s great.

Even if you don’t like candy corn you have to at least appreciate it. It’s festive and as a candy it actually looks like corn kernels. (I know fewer and fewer people have actually seen whole silos filled with feed corn, but trust me - that’s pretty much what it looks like.)

Maybe you’ve even wondered how they make it. Candy corn is made by creating a mold in corn starch. A “positive” image of the finished candy corn is pressed into a tray of firmly packed corn starch to create the “negative” image of the corn shape with the tip a the very bottom. Then the tray has a layer of molten candy squirted into it. Then it goes to the next color layer until it has three layers built up. You can see that they kind of blend a little bit at the margins, which is good, because it helps the candy bond together as a whole. The recipes for each layer are slightly different (colors and sometimes flavors) but work as a whole.

After they’re layered properly they’re demolded, which usually means they’re dumped out of the tray and tumbled or shaken on a mesh screen to get the corn starch off. Then they’re tumbled again (usually) with a little glaze to give them their matte coats. Every once in a while you’ll get one that seems to be missing a layer, which I find kind of fun, because real corn is like that.

This process can be applied to any kind of shape but the layering thing is most often seen with the candy corn. Other “mallocremes” are made the same way but with different mold shapes (so the pumpkin ones would have the little green stem squirted in first and then the orange cream for the pumpkin gourd). What’s pretty cool about this process is that sometimes people think outside the box. This time they’ve created “Gourmet Goodie” which is flavored candy corn. I’ve seen them at Target, but didn’t quite want to pick up a whole jar because of my pre-existing candy corn consumption commitments.

The flavor that interested me most was Tangerine. The colors are funky, the bottom is orange, the middle yellow and the top is lavender. Not the most intuitive combo for something in the citrus family, but you know you can’t tell after it’s in your mouth.

The first thing I noticed about these was how beautiful they are. The color combos really are nice. In the mouth they’re ultrasmooth without a hint of graininess, yet there’s a pleasant soft crumbly texture to them. The next thing I noticed was a tartness. Being tangerine they’re not about the “essence” of the fruit, but more about the juice of the fruit.

The tangerine reminded me of a creamsicle. Sweet, mellow, a little creamy feeling and a sort of neutral tartness.

Next was the one that I dreaded, Cherry. Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s a stunning looking piece of candy. red on the bottom, pink in the middle and a yellow cap. It also had the same smoothness and not nearly the tangy-ness as the tangerine. But it also had the cherry flavor. It was strong cherry and had a bitter, medicinal note to it. (But of course I don’t like cherry, so you can completely disregard my dislike for this.)

Finally was the one my husband was looking forward to Apple. I kind of like the idea of apple as a candy corn flavor, as I consider apple a fall fruit as much as corn is a fall harvest.

Green on the bottom, yellow in the middle and orange on top, this one could easily be mistaken for the tangerine. Also tart and with a kind of artificial flavor, the apple grew on me. The mellow candy corn notes that we usually associate with the honey flavor kind of work here. I would be curious to taste one that was more in the apple pie family of flavors, with cinnamon notes and less of the green apple flavors.

They’re undoubtedly high quality, but I’m just not keen on the taste. The tangerine was passable, but the apple and cherry just repulsed me.

I am actually curious about Galerie au Chocolat, the manufacturer who sent me the samples. While I didn’t care for this product, I’d be willing to try some other stuff (especially if there’s some of that ‘chocolat’ involved). If you live in the Hebron, KY area (near Cincinnati, OH), you might be interested to hear that Galerie has an annual candy corn sale, the last day is Sunday, October 29th. (visit their site, click on “visit us”) ... they said 50 cents a pound!

Candyology 101 - Episode 35 - Whatchamacallit
In the latest Candyology 101 podcast, Maria and I tackled a little-celebrated candy bar, the Whatchamacallit. We’re also trying out a new format, which is a little shorter, like a handful of fun size candy bars! (more)

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All content (text and photos unless otherwise credited) is copyright 2005-2018 by Cybele May

Please do not use my photos without prior permission directly from me, they represent what I ate in preparation for these reviews and are not to be used for other purposes.